Allamah Iqbal and “Islamic Re-Awakening” By Prof. M. S. Tajar Al-Mustafa International College Dr. Mohammad Iqbal of Pakistan (1875-1938) was truly a man of “Enlightenment” and a genius, very similar to many other great intellectuals, activists, philosophers, poets and writers of the world. But, his very unique role in the “Worldwide Islamic Re-awakening” was probably the most interesting aspect of his character, and personality. Just to cite an example, it is enough to note here that his theory of the “Islamic Nationalism and Internationalism” was the main reason behind the birth of the first and the most populous Islamic nation in history, i.e., “The Islamic Republic of Pakistan, in 1947.” Dr. Iqbal, and the Islamic Nostalgia Dr. Mohammad Iqbal was born during the British colonial rule, in the Indian subcontinent ---comprising what is today India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, combined. When he opened his eyes, and he got enough awareness, he saw his native Indian people, Muslims as well as the Hindus, the Sikhs and others, were under the subjugation of a foreign colonial power, called “Great Britain” (which today is only “Britain” with no adjectives!) To the young Iqbal, as a Muslim, that subjugation (or as he himself used to call it “Ghulami” or slavery) was even more painful, for several reasons: Firstly, because Iqbal knew very well about his own Islamic heritage, and the glorious Muslim Empire called “Moghuls”, that once ruled India with all its magnanimity and fairness towards all the citizens, regardless of their race or religion. But now, he could see how his beloved motherland has been turned into a colony, ruled by a treacherous and scheming European white-racist supremacist-exceptionalist/ almost “chosen people” vs. the colonized Indians, who were enslaved in their own land/ not very different from the Israel-Palestine Catastrophe or “Nakbah” of today. Also, considering the fact that the “British Colonial Empire” was started with the “Euphemism of the East India Trading Company” and it ended in a brutal occupation and subjugation of a land that was 10 times bigger than England in territory, and many times bigger, in population, it was both ironic and also very hard for him to fathom. Another painful part of this so-called “company” was the fact that it was engaged in the biggest “drug pushing mafia business” that the world had ever seen, using the opium from its Indian and Burmese (now Myanmar) colonies, to sell it to the drug addicted nation of China, using gun-boat diplomacy, too! (Ref. “International New York Times” June 6/ 2015/ P.10) Also the “Empire of Cotton” by Sven Beckart New York/ 2015) Second, as a young Muslim student of history, Iqbal was also very familiar with the lost glories of the Moorish Caliphate in Spain (711-1492 A.D.) ---- the “Glory that was Spain” and the “Granada!... Granada!” of the bygone era. He knew about that Islamic Renaissance in the European soil, during the Muslim Caliphate of the 8th Century Spain, long before there was any so-called “European Renaissance” that began in Florence, Italy, during the 14th Century A.D., some 600 years later! Iqbal even visited Spain, to see for himself those magnificent Islamic Heritage sites of the “Alhamra Palaces”, the Cordoba Mosque (now the Cordoba Church), the “Madinat Zahra”, once the youngest and the most beautiful capital in the entire Europe, now in ruins! (See the Alhambra Decree of 1492/Expulsion of the Muslims and the Jews, from the Catholic Spain, as well as the “La Reconquista” of the Moriscos/ Moors/The International New York Times/April 2/2014 P.10) Third, Iqbal was also an eye-witness to the collapse of the “Muslim Ottoman Empire” (1288-1924) due to the British and the French conspiracies, and the infamous British spy, the “Lawrence of Arabia” and his “Saudi tribal co-horts”, who treacherously put an end to the longest ruling dynasty in the world- i.e. the “Ottoman Caliphate”, in Turkey. The Ottoman Muslim Empire was thus divided among the British and the French colonizers (see the Sykes-Picot agreement of the 1918) and it was torn into some 20 small countries, one of which was the land of Palestine – gifted, illegally, to the European Jews, to colonize, and to re-name it “Israel” in 1948. All those tragic events and the catastrophes befallen the once glorious Muslim civilization, starting from the 7th century, up to the 20th century, depressed Mohammad Iqbal’s young mind, very severely; This, in turn resulted in an emotional revolution inside our young hero, which like a volcano erupted, and it was expressed in the form of his many lectures, books and especially in his poetry, both in the Urdu language, as well as in Persian. But more so in Persian language, because he considered the Persian language as the second language of Islam, after the Arabic – from the Central Asia up to China, and from Iran up to India. That’s why almost 60% of the poems by this Indian revolutionary poet and intellectual leader, is composed in Persian, and not in his own native language of Urdu/ Hindi. One more reason why he used the Persian Language more than his own mother tongue, was his belief, and the belief of many of his own contemporary poets in India at the time, that Persian was the most expressive language of Poetry in the Muslim world, both in quality as well as in quantity. (Ref. “An Introduction to the Persian Poetry” by Prof. M.S. Tajar/ www.academia.edu.ph/ www.scribd.ph.m.s.tajar). Just to give an example, here we would like to quote one of those poems, by Dr. Iqbal, himself. “Even though Hindi language is As sweet as the sugar Yet, the Persian language Is even sweeter!” And he also once said that those Persian poems he had composed were the most fruitful part of his entire creative life. Then, he added: “I get those inspirations only in Persian. In fact, my heart is Persian!” (See “The Persian Letters”/ Tehran, Iran, January 2003, p.133) One of his own predecessors, who is the greatest Indian poet of the Urdu language of all time, Mr. Ghalib of Delhi, had also expressed similar views, as Dr. Iqbal, but some 100 years ahead of him. Mirza Asadul Lah Ghalib of Delhi (1797-1869 A.D.) once said: “Look at those Persian verses To see all those glorious lines! Forget the Urdu, Which is a colourless Collection of mine! And then, as if that were not enough praise for the Persian art of Poetry, this time Mirza Ghalib went even further, by saying: “Ghalib was, indeed A sweet nightingale Of the Persian rose gardens (Firdaus/ Paradise/ Pardis) I, foolishly, called him A little parakeet of the India-land!” And he also, just like the great Iqbal, believed that he could express his own “Immortal Artistic views” much better in Persian, than in any other language. Islamic Revivalism of the 19th and the 20th Centuries So, while Iqbal was comparing those earlier glories of the Islamic Civilization viz-a-viz the downfalls, 1, 2 and 3 (i.e. The Moorish Caliphate of Spain, the Moghuls of India, and the Ottoman Caliphate in Turkey, one after another) he was deeply touched and saddened by seeing the miseries that had befallen the Muslim Ummah; And being an intellectual that he was, he could not keep silent about it. Therefore, he shouted on top of his voice for an “Islamic ReAwakening” among the Muslim peoples, and he found that “voice” in poetry, and to him no other poetry was more expressive than the Persian. In fact, one of his classic works, which is titled as: “What then must we do, O’ people of the East?” was composed in Persian, together with five other volumes. And his reasons for doing so were, as follows: 1. The great tradition of the Persian Poetry and literature, that goes back some 5,000 years, most notably in the “Gatha Hymns of the Persian Prophet Zoroaster” (551628 B.C.) which are the biggest part of his holy book – the Avesta. (Ref. “Amordad”, the Zoroastrian Magazine/ Tehran, Iran, Nov. 20, 2015, P. 8) 2. The revolutionary history of the Persian Poetry, in resisting the foreign invaders, from Alexander of Macedonia 320 B.C., to the Arab invasion in the 7th century, as well as the Mongols in the 13th Century A.D. The best example of those “Poems of rebellion and resistance” could still be found in the Persian epic “The Shah Namah” of Ferdausi (935-1020 A.D.). Shah Namah, which means the “The Book of the Kings” or the “King of the Books”, is three times the length of the Homer’s Iliad and the Odyssey combined, and twice as long as the Indian epic, the “Mahabarata”. 3. This, plus the fact that the Persian was also the official language of the Muslim Empire in India, as well as its poetry and literature, for almost 700 years; which made the Persian poetry very essential in expressing Dr. Iqbal’s message of Islamic Re-Awakening, both among the Indian Muslims, as well as overseas. While, the Mongols invaded Persia in the 13th Century A.D., they were also influenced greatly by the Persian civilization, and its sophisticated culture. (Just like the Arabs and the Macedonians, before). By the 16th century, when the great grandchildren of Gengiz Khan (1162- 1227 A.D.) crossed over from Persia/ Central Asia/ into India, they were not anymore those same Mongolian Animists, with the same murderous mentality and the barbaric behavior, but instead, they had changed into some sophisticated rulers, lovers of the arts and literature and even the Persian poetry. Those Mongolians of the yester years had now turned into Muslim Kings, adopting Persian names like “Babar”, “Homayun” or “Homa-bon”, “Aurang Zaib”, “Jahan Gir”, “Akbar”, etc. and the Persian tastes for good food, fashionable clothings, first class courts, and even Persian Queens e.g., Queen Nur Jahan of the world renowned “Taj Mahal” – the most celebrated Queen in history (Very similar to the Persian Queen “Roxana” of Alexander of Macedonia, and several other Persian Queens of the Arab Caliphs) If it were a zoology subject, we could even say that the Mongols were just like those bumblebees that invaded the Persian Rose Gardens and they also, just like those bees, carried with them, the seeds of the Persian – Islamic Civilization, and they unwittingly impregnated India’s Hindu Civilization, with it. That’s why today almost all aspects of life in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh contain some traces of the Persian culture and civilization, plus Islam and a little bit of the Mongolian, too. (e.g. the word “Urdu” is Turkic for “Army”) One can clearly see those Persian – Islamic influences in India’s Taj Mahal, and the Red Fort/ Nehru cap and Shirwani Tunics/ Shalwar Qamis/ Indian Biryani and Naan/ Tandoori/ Jinnah Cap/ Indian Poetry and songs/ movies and love stories/ Mosques and Mausoleums/ sixty per cent of the Urdu language being Persian or Arabic of the Persian colour/ the Persian Alphabet and its grammar used in Urdu, which is the 3rd most spoken language in the world today, after the Chinese and English. One of the well-known Indian scholars, professor, Mahmood Shirani believes that: “Urdu is actually the beautiful daughter of the Persian language.” (Ref. “The Persian Letters”/ Tehran, Iran, Sum. 2002/ p. 199). No wonder, even the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaher La’l Nehru (1889-1964) whose own first name is also Persian (i.e., Jawaher La’l, meaning “Ruby”) once said: “Taj Mahal is the soul of Persia, in the body of India.” But, that was not originally from Nehru, because it had already been mentioned earlier by the French artist, J.B. Geuze (17251805) who also did very well appreciate the extreme beauty of the Persian- Islamic Architecture in the Taj Mahal, one of the 7 wonders of the world. Iqbal’s Influencial Teachers Aside from the above mentioned influences of the Islamic Persia on Iqbal, which could be considered as passive, there were some active and direct influences on the personality of Dr. Iqbal, which led him, just like many other Indian poets, both Mulims as well as the Hindus, to become “Persico-Philes”, too! In addition to having some great Persian scholars as his own teachers, Iqbal had also a good British mentor, who was himself another “Persico-Phile”. His name was Sir Thomas Arnold (1864-1930), who being Iqbal’s philosophy teacher, led him into writing his Doctoral dissertation at the Cambridge University (not about the Indian Philosophy, but rather) on “The Development of Metaphysics in Persia”, in 1908, and then also defending it, of all places, in Munich/ Germany (Aryanism?). The first sentence on the first page of that dissertation, says a lot about Iqbal’s own “Persico-Phile” tendencies, as well. He said, and we quote: “The most remarkable characteristic of the Persian people”, wrote young Dr. Iqbal “is their love of metaphysical speculations” (p. ix) This unique combination by Dr. Iqbal of Philosophy-Poetry-Activism was the reason why a Pakistani analyst once said: “Iqbal’s poetry made philosophy sing!” (Ref. “Iqbal Academy in Pakistan” 2015) Iqbal’s Geatest Teacher However, the greatest teacher, who captivated Iqbal’s mind, both as a “Persico-Phile” as well as in his “Islamic Internationalism/ Islamic Re-awakening” was a grand master that Iqbal never met in person. He was rather a “controversial” Muslim scholar-reformer, by the name of Jamal Ad-din Al-Afghani, or more correctly, “Asad Abadi” (1838-1897). The “controversial” Muslim scholar-reformer, was respected, even revered and also feared and reviled, by the Kings of Persia, as well as the Shah in Afghanistan and even the Caliph of the Ottoman Empire. Just to know better about this “Great Reformer-Spiritual Leader”, we should mention the fact that, he was the first person in recent history, who revived the Islamic spirit among the Muslims (i.e. the Islamic Re-awakening) especially among the Arab people, from North Africa up to the Persian Gulf. (Which resulted later in the creation of the “Ikhwan Al-Muslimin Movement” of Hassan Al-Banna in Egypt, the Sheikh Abduh, Sayyid Qutb, and others, as well as the “The Jama-at Islami Party” in India/ Pakistan by Sheikh Maududi, etc.) We must also consider the fact that even the name, the nationality and the birth place of that revolutionary teacher; remain a “mystery” until now. And today, some 120 years after his death, nobody knows for sure what his real name was, where was he really born, etc. although we all know about his tragic death, by poison, in the hands of the agents of the last Ottoman Emperor “The Caliph, Abdul Hamid” (1842-1918). Sayyid Jamal Ad-din Asad Abadi, or “Al-Afghani” The average Muslim knows that great reformer-spiritual leader, as a man from Afghanistan, who belonged to the “Sunni” branch of Islam, and who travelled from the courts of Afghanistan, to the palaces of Persia (not yet Iran), and up to the “Baab Aali” palaces of the Ottoman Turks, as well as the European Capitals of Vienna and Paris, etc. But in reality, that mysterious teacher was neither an “Afghan” nor a Sunni, but rather an Iranian Shi’ah Scholar, from the small town of “Asad Abad”, near the historic City of Hamedan (one of the earliest capitals of the Medes and the Persians). The reason why he was introducing himself as “Al-Afghani” was this: 1. By showing his “Afghan ID” (because he had lived there, too) he was trying to avoid all those negative impressions of the “Sunni Muslims” ( the Arabs, the Turks, etc.) and the antiShi’ah, as well as the anti-Persian feelings, that were(and still are) prevalent among the majority of the Muslims, toward the Shi’ah minority. He wanted also to “unite” all the Muslims, regardless of their sectarian orientations, racial connections and tribal affiliations. And that way, he planned, (and to a certain degree he also did succeed) to re-awaken the Islamic spirit among the Muslim Ummah, from the Arabs and Berbers of the North Africa, to the Muslims of the Balkans, and the Turks and Tatars of the Central Asia, to the Afghans, the Persians and the Indians, the Malays, and the Indonesians of the South East Asia, as well as the Uighur Muslims in China. He concentrated his activities in Turkey, as well as in Egypt, the two power centers, one that of the “Islamic Empire” and the other, the heart of the Arab world, while he, himself being a Persian, travelled to India and Europe, in order to reach out to the rest of the Muslim populations there, too. That’s why “The International Herald Tribune” of America, in one of its articles described him, as the “First person, in modern history who brought the message of return to Islam and to the Qur’an, into the Arab world.” (Ref. “The International Herald Tribune”- June 12/2005/P.8)) But when it was revealed later that he was not an Afghani “Taliban”, but rather a Persian Shi’ah Scholar-Activist, the Ottoman Sunni Caliph poisoned him to death, and an Egyptian Wahhabi Scholar, by the name of “Rashid Rida” (1865-1935) called him, after his tragic death, as “Another dog, from among the Persian dogs!” (not the Persian Cats?). Message of Martyred Teacher of Iqbal The main message of Jamal Ad-Din Asad Abadi to all the Muslims, throughout the world was that, they should “Turn-to-Islam for the answer” in order to recover their lost glory. (Ref. “Jamal Ad-din Asad Abadi” by Mohit Tabatabai/ Tehran/ Iran/ 1998.) This message was the greatest and the most powerful of all, to get into the head and the heart of the young Iqbal, and his entire adult life was spent on that message alone, which is very visible in all his lectures, books and almost in every poem that he created, both in his favourite language of poetry i.e., Persian, as well as in his own mother tongue of Urdu; That message, which is called the “Islamic Re-Awakening” is still reverberating in the hearts and the minds of the followers and fans of Dr. Mohammad Iqbal, all over the world, today, and it will continue, forever, In Shaa Allah! And now, we would like to end this, with one of Dr. Iqbal’s own classic Persian Poems, which like a mirror, clearly shows his entire message, the vision and the mission of Dr. Mohammad Iqbal, in a nutshell – his “Islamic Internationalism”, his call to Re-awakening, his love for the Persian Poetry and culture, and the religious, as well as the intellectual influences on him, by his Persian Muslim teachers, etc. Just the title of that poem tells it all! It’s titled: “O’ Youth of Persia”, and here are some of the highlights of that Poem: “O’ Youth of Persia” I shall burn like a candle Your issues to handle O’ Youth of Persia My life is yours! *** I have been deeply in thought Just trying to understand The mystic of your wise men (Magis?) With all my heart *** I have touched the stars I have reached the planets And I have found the ‘Temple’ In your Holy Home *** There shall come a ‘man’ From your tribe, I could see To liberate us all From the slavery that we are in! (A. Khomeini/1979?) *** Surround me, embrace me! O’ nation of good wills For I have a ‘Fire’ in me From your forefathers! To complete the picture, we may even add this short poem from Dr. Iqbal, this time in Urdu, as well: “If Tehran would become The Geneva of the East It may also be possible To change the destiny of the world! That’s the Islamic Re-Awakening, according to Mohammad Iqbal, “who made the Philosophy sing!” References: 1. “Divan of Iqbal”, compilation of Dr. Iqbal’s poems in Persian, Tehran, Iran/ 20022. “Introduction to Persian Poetry” by Prof. M.S. Tajar, www.academia.edu.ph./ www.scribd.ph.M.S.Tajar 3. “The International Herald Tribune” June2005 4. “Islam: A message of peaceful co-existence” by Prof. M.S. Tajar/ www.academis.edu.ph. /www.scribd.ph.M.S.Tajar 5. “Sayyid Jamal Ad-din Asad Abadi” by Mohit Tabatabai/ Tehran, Iran 1998. 6. “Amordad” the “Zoroastrian” magazine/ Tehran, Iran, Nov. 2015 7. “The Persian Letters” Iran quarterly/2002 8. “The Glorious Qur’an”, English Translation, by A. Yusof Ali/ Lahore Pakistan/ 1998 9. “Empire of Cotton” by Sven Beckert Alfred A. Knopf / USA /2015 10. www.allamaiqbal.com 11. www.columbia.edu/itc/mealec/pritchett/00urdu/iqbal 12. “The Reconstruction of the Religious Thought in Islam” By Dr. Mohammad Iqbal. Publisher: Iqbal Academy of Pakistan, 1992